Exley

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here is a short video show a variety of Exley coaches on my layout.  The description tells you a little more.

 

http://youtu.be/agwYBtyNZiY

 

Also here is my latest coach, a nice 6 wheel LMS parcels van which needs cleaning a little I think but that can wait a while.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Having recently seen Tony's EMU motor coach a month ago and at the same time a trailer for sale (which I did not win) I have just aquried a 2 car set as below, this then being only the 2nd one I have ever seen although I have heard of them.  The finish is very good and I doubt I will be stripping to clean these.  I guess this has the Romford motor like Tony's but this is a 3-rail version which suits me.  It has sprung wires for an outside 3rd rail pick-up but this shoud be quite easy to alter to my Dublo style ones.  It is very heavy which I assume is the motor casting. One surprising thing is that the door handrails are quite long on both carriages.

 

The track was only glued a couple of hours earlier hence the white spots which will disappear soon.

[amdaley]

That's a nice looking unit you have there.

The Romford "Bulldog" motor units weight a "ton" and have Romford stamped into the plate underneath as far as i can remember.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here is another coach that I have only seen twice before, the LMS Kitchen Car.  There is, in my opinion, a poor example for sale now which is the only other one I have seen but this one I managed to obtain is like new. even the wheels on this coach run very freely so the bogies will not be changed for a while as Bachmann Mk1 bogies are non existent at the moment.  What surprises me is that the window vents are missing.  On the poor one they are painted on the glass but this has none at all.  Also for some reason both coaches have the corridor on opposite sides of the coach.  It just needs some Kadees fitted and it will look nice in one of the maroon rakes.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here is the EMU on the move after giving the motor a full strip down and a re-mag.  I wondered why the armature kept bouncing a little initially and after striping everything down I noticed the bearings have what looks like 3 ball bearings in them.  I think the pin points of the armature were getting trapped in between them.  I also noticed how when assembling the bogie the frame is easily bent when fitting the bearings which I guess is due to its thinness.  The best way to avoid this is to have the cast sideframes fitted in situ BEFORE adjusting the bearings.  I don't know if the noise is as standard like an old Tri-ang one or if something is not quite right yet in the assembly.  Running over the ballast increases this considerably as opposed to only a little with the Dublo locos, with the bulk head in the EMU it is a small boxed area for the motor..  As for top speed, again I don't know if this is as fast as it would have been, the last two views have the unit on full speed.

 

[amdaley]

That looks great

You didn't take step by step photos by any chance ?

Did you get the remag done professionally or did you do it yourself ?

 

I actually like the noise.

No need for any sound decoder.

Its probably the way the motor is boxed in which amplifies the noise.

Did you try the motor bogie by itself out of the unit to see how noisy it was ?

 

Tony.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi Tony, sorry for the delay in replying but I had the wrong page open on my phone which is what I usually use to check with on a night.

 

I am afraid I did not take any photos it was done on the quick so to speak while Jackie went to Hull and I had the 3 kids to look after.

 

I did the remag, I bought one of Ron Dodds, he sells them on Ebay and they are good, easy to use and safe. In fact I removed the troublesome neo's from my Dublo EMU's and replaced with original ones remagged.

 

I like the noise of this one when its not on the ballasted section, it has a lovely tone and as you say boxing it in will not help. As for running on its own that was about 1 foot to check it worked after stripping it then back into the body.

 

I have just got another 5 LMS coaches set up in a rake running. I have had them a few months but without any replacement bogies I had to clean all the wheels and axles. They run quite well know but still not as free as the others. I have bought a cheap Dublo Atholl to repaint in LMS livery to pull the LMS coaches, I am. BR man usually.

 

I have just got some scrap SR ones cheap and might look at repainting in Blood and Custard livery for something different as they need a repaint anyway. I did an LMS corridor brake before Xmas which looks nice but had to use a gloss varnish to give a similar sheen to other coaches.

 

Garry

[amdaley]

Hi Garry.

 

Do you have a link to Ron Dodds stuff on E Bay please ?

 

The problem with the noise on the ballasted section is that its vibrating through the baseboard which is like using a sound box. Do you use an underlay under the ballast ?

Also I found in the past that using neat Pva made it worse as the whole track & ballast set like concrete.

I found using Richards Johnson ballasting glue mixture much better as its a looser bond than neat Pva.

 

Tony.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi Tony, I will do it tomorrow as I cannot copy and paste on my phone.

 

I know the baseboard is like a drum and it is only 6mm ply tops but they were made by an HRCA member mainly for Dublo track. I have 2mm cork underneath but as the track is pinned that counteracts the use of cork and I dont want to remove all the pins. Most Dublo locos are a lot quieter on it and I dont know why that is but I might try the Blue Pullman with a similar bogie to see what that is like.

 

Garry

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi Tony, it looks like the last one on Ebay has gone so I have written to him for his e-mail and to see if he has any more left or making more.  I write as a PM as he is an HRCA member and I don't know it myself.  It actually works via a PC power adapter so 12 volts but is really good.  Most Dublo locos are done in situ, for the R1 motor you just pull the magnet out a little till the contacts can touch it.

 

Garry

[amdaley]

Hi Garry.

 

I never thought that you could buy this equipment on E bay.

I always thought that you had to send in the loco or motor to have it done.

Having said that I have no experience of this type of thing.

 

Tony.

[amdaley]

Hi Tony, I will do it tomorrow as I cannot copy and paste on my phone.

 

I know the baseboard is like a drum and it is only 6mm ply tops but they were made by an HRCA member mainly for Dublo track. I have 2mm cork underneath but as the track is pinned that counteracts the use of cork and I dont want to remove all the pins. Most Dublo locos are a lot quieter on it and I dont know why that is but I might try the Blue Pullman with a similar bogie to see what that is like.

 

Garry

 

Hi Garry.

 

How is the bogie fixed to the Emu ?

Perhaps you could try a little fibre or rubber washer in the connection to reduce the effect ?

Or maybe replace the fixing screw with a nylon type.

 

Where the track is ballasted you could remove most of the pins as the track is unlikely to move.

Just leave a few on the curves.

 

Tony.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi Tony,  Ron's e-mail is ronaldaedodd@aol.com and he told me he has now sold over 300 around the world and he is happy for anyone to get in touch about them.  I do know some people have bought one and take it to shows to offer remags to others.

 

Here is a clip of one of my Dublo Deltics pulling 10 Exleys.  It is only to show how it runs without tyres as I have replaced the tyred wheels with plain steel ones.

 

https://youtu.be/Rmh7olnlqG0

 

The Exley bogie is fastened front and back to the body, if you look at the earlier photo the left hand side has a nut where a screw fits through the buffer beam and the right side has a lip that sits on part of the underframe.  The actual fixing screw is very difficult to remove and I would not like a nylon one.  Between the heavy top block and the motor frame there are two nuts, one of which is a locknut for the other. and you need to loosen these then revolve the bogie away from the top. You cannot loosen the nut down the top hole.

 

As for the pins it would look too messy as I have them quite close in pairs on the outsides of the sleepers to keep it riged with having the 3rd rail fastened on, plus, there would be lots of holes.

 

Most locos are fine so I think I can live with it and just have shorter runs for those locos.

 

 

Cheers

Garry

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here is a video clip showing a lot of the maroon Exleys I have.  There are a few more around on the layout but most have been seen before like the Postal although this does now have a 6th vehicle in its rake.

 

The set with the 6 wheel parcels are fitted with the original Exley bogies and wheels which when cleaned up and oiled do run quite nicely, not as free as the Bachmann ones but better than Dublo ones.  It will be interesting to see if they stay clean for a long period as I have no way of telling how long it took the dirt to accumulate on the wheels.

 

Edited May 2, 2015 by Golden Fleece 30

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here we have a Tri-ang L1 that has been 3-railed pulling a rake of Exley SR suburbans.  There is no additional weight in the loco yet but if I decided to put some in then the bogie may need springing to keep the body from being nose heavy.  At the moment this is unlikely as there seems ample weight to pull these coaches and this is only on half speed. The loco has had its driving wheels machined to allow it to to run through the modern Peco universal track hence the view of the diamond crossing and modern Hornby metal bogie wheels have replaced the plastic ones.

 

Grifone - I have seen some comments from you on another topic about Tri-ang loco wheels and thought I would mention that these have been done at Scalespeed.  It is also a "proper" 3-rail loco as all driving wheels are plain, ie non insulated, so there was no need to worry about using the pick up wire to short out one side as both sides are live.  I have used my own pick-up shoes on a piece of Phosphor Bronze that was soldered to the original spring holder.  The pick-ups are shown here in brass but I have nickel ones that can be used too. 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2015 by Golden Fleece 30

[Il Grifone]

Hello Garry,

 

That's excellent. How did you get the domed shape for the pickup? I've tried paper clips and upholstery brads, but neither is 100% successful. Did you swop the brush connections over (or reverse the magnet) or just put up with her running the wrong way?

 

My 3 rail L1 has her pickup in the tender (Castle and 8F style). I can't remember if this is the one with the Märklin skate or a bit of phosphor bronze (I've done several locos this way, including the Midland 3F and the B12). She runs very well on the original wheels (on Dublo track), but rather rapidly (she is Tri-ang after all - their locos really need 30:1 gearing or more rather than 20:1. She won't pull all that much (the B12 is a lot better though only slightly heavier), but there isn't a lot of space to add extra weight. There would be space in the smokebox but this would only make her nose heavy (springing the bogie would then transfer the weight to it rather than on the drivers where it's needed. I'll have to try transferring weight from the tender, but that might cause pickup problems...

Edited May 19, 2015 by Il Grifone

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hello David, I drew up a lot of different pieces and had them etched in Nickel silver for replacement Dublo shoes etc.  Some I had done slightly longer as I have to say using Peco track the standard shoe spacing on some is just out for very slow running.  Once I have the pieces I just punch them to shape in a steel block that I ground the hollow part in and filed a steel bar for the male part.  After that bend to suit the application.  I have Marklin skates but these can catch in my track so I have Nickel discs I punch to shape then solder to each end of the skate.  I also have had etched Phosphor Bronze springs to replace some Dublo ones, AND, also to my own design for the Dublo Castle, 8F and R1 tanks.  The 8F and Castle ones are used where a tender is different or no tender used like the Hornby 2-8-0 tank body on a Dublo 8F chassis.

 

As for running the wrong way I have not yet decided which is right and wrong, after all this time I still need to check which is + and - from the controller and without a brand new loco I dare not use a Dublo one in case it is the opposite, I do have them running in opposite directions but one day it will be sorted.

 

Yes, they are fast, this L1 goes even faster than the original Dublo 0-6-2's with these 5 coaches on. For some reason my Britannia (Tri-ang not my "Dublo" one) slips with just 3 coaches yet this L1 will probably take another 2.  I have had an M7 re wheeled but not fitted any pick-ups yet.  I like the idea of all wheels live too.

 

I will get one of the B12's re wheeled and possibly the Winston Churchill.  I do have a Hall fitted with a Dublo pick up which is not as strong as this L1.

 

Sorry there are no Exley items in this post but all these locos pull Exleys which now are the only coaches on the layout.

 

Garry

[Il Grifone]

Hello Garry,

The convention is that 2 rail locomotives go forward, when the right hand rail is positive relative to the left hand. For three rail the running rail(s)* should be positive relative to the conductor rail (for Dublo anyway). With the right hand wheels insulated (normal Dublo practice), this results in the magnet being reversed between the two systems (as specified in the service sheets). Alternatively the wires to the brushes can be swopped over, where this is practical, of course.

 

* It is possible to copy the Trix Twin system and run 2 and 3 rail together - one 2 rail and the other centre rail and one common running rail. It's rather inconvenient to arrange however, requiring special track and special (or Trix Twin!) locomotives. (Almost all my A.C.Trix have been converted to D.C. - only the 'Scotsman remains A.C. Her sequence reverser still functions correctly (unusually!), but it's always hit and miss which way she will go!)

 

When I converted some of my locomotives to 2 rail in the early sixties, (using original Dublo spare wheels which became available then* ) I insulated the left hand side to avoid messing around with the magnet.

 

* Previously spares were unobtainable. I tried to order a pair of coach bogies in the fifties, but they would not supply them. I did manage to get a replacement front coupling for my N2 tank, but I suppose this was considered user replaceable. It cost 2/6d, which is considerably less in real terms than they cost today. The insulated driving wheels were 1/3d each and the plastic bogie and tender wheels 6d IIRC. Being mean and short of cash (still at school), I only replaced only one side and left the other side in mazak. The *F and Castle used the American system of pickup one rail locomotive and the other tender. (Economy again - less wheels required and no pickups. The wire from tender to locomotive served also as the insulated drawbar. Surprisingly they all worked well!)

 

IIRC connecting a Dublo controller to Dublo track without crossing the wires over (as shown in their instructions) results in operation in the correct direction.

 

My weakest Dublo locomotive is a 3 railed R1 which will only manage three Dublo coaches without slipping (like most Tri-ang locomotives). All the others will manage at least five and some considerably more. I find SD6 coaches vary in 'rollability' though. One full brake needed a set of 3 rail metal wheels before it would run properly. Tight bearings perhaps?

 

Cheers, David

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here is my "Dublo" V2 which the description is on You Tube.  It is pulling the LMS rake of Exley suburbans, these are not my repainted ones.

 

 

David, I decided to check my layout and one track has - on the centre rail, the other did not so I now know which way all trains should run.  The L1 ran as per Dublo.  In the initial stages I had thought about my layout being 2 and 3-rail but it involved too much wiring and switching, plus, I would have to take any 3-rail item off as most of my SD stock has been fitted with the iron wheels so it is a full 3-rail set up with the running rails shorted out together.  The Trix locos do cause me a problem having both sides insulated but I am looking at shorting them out with a pin through the bush (as per my Dublo) or electrical paint on the axle ends.  I have seen numerous Dublo locos on Ebay with Mazak and Nickel wheels to work like yours.

 

The R1 is the worst which I guess is due to the small chassis and plastic body, here one of mine is pulling 4 coaches, 3 Exleys and a Tri-ang one ,the others I have will not although the ones with a whitemetal body are excellent haulers.  I just need to look at weighting some one day.  I have about 3 or 4 different was of 3-railing these, this method is on a couple.

 

 

Most 0 gauge locos I built used the loco one side and tender the other.

 

Garry

[RosiesBoss]

Exley Coaches on Carmarthen Junction

Readers and correspondents of RMWeb may be aware that my fictional Carmarthen Junction layout features a large (mainly) GWR collection. Some of the collection is described here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/70550-carmarthen-junction-miscellena/

 

The collection began with a Christmas present that I received in 1955 – a Tri-ang Princess Elizabeth train set. The original coaches warped beyond further use in the early 1960s, but the loco remained fairly straight. I did repaint it in LMS colours in the early 1970s, but although remaining in good mechanical order, it saw little use in the growing GWR collection. My model of 6201 does come out for run from time to time and can still haul an 8-coach train, despite now being 60 years of age.

 

In 1975, I visited the UK to attend both the S&D 150 celebrations and the opening of the NRM. I did manage to “get up close and personal” to the real 6201 and, despite the crowds, took this image at Shildon:

 

Over the next few years, I kept an eye open for suitable coaches to run with my model of 6201. A friend in the Hornby Collectors’ Club came across some battered Exley LMS coaches. Although being short, they seemed to be in keeping with the under-length Tri-ang model, so I bought them and fitted suitable bogies and couplings (where needed). I did not attempt any other restoration, so they are otherwise “as found”.

 

Here are some images:

 

Full brakes 5203 and 2061:

 

 

5203 is mounted on Ratio bogies; 2061 utilises Tri-ang bogies.

 

 

First class coaches 2053 and 2037:

 

 

2053 is on Ratio bogies; 2037 is still on her original Exley bogies. Neither coach shows any sign of having been fitted with interior detail.

 

I think they look charming when running behind the contemporary model of 6201:

 

Regards,

Rob

[Golden Fleece 30]

Very nostalgic Rob and they look the part, nice photo.

[Golden Fleece 30]

A few weeks ago I managed to get the 3 coaches here, cheap for my Yorkshire wallet, with a view to repainting them.  They were stripped, a few small dents smoothed out as best I could (no filler added) and cleaned up with a grey undercoat added. I decided to do them in Blood and Custard livery so sprayed them with Railmatch BR Custard. I thought this was a little too "yellow" so tried something else on top of two shells which was a disaster so they were stripped again but I had run out of the colour.  I am hoping to get some Phoenix colour later for those two but continued with this one.  The "Blood" was added (Ford Flame Red) then the roof had a couple of coats of Car bumper grey put on.  Once lined out Black and Gold with Edding pens and the door handrails etc with silver it was assembled again, the ends having been sprayed Satin Black.  New toilet window colour used, and then Bachmann bogies were fitted.  The buffers are in that very safe place that I cannot remember where and the gangways were useless so waiting for some new ones.  A chap I found does 0 gauge ones which do not look too bad and said he he will be doing 00 later.

[nigel49]

Hi we're do you find all these coachs, as EBay ones can command huge prices and way outside my finances.

 

I woul like a GWR Sleeping Coach, if anyone wants it to have a good home.

 

Nigel49

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi Nigel, most of mine were actually from Ebay and it all depends on your choice of what is a high price.  Recently they have shot up on Ebay but there are a couple of sellers who have astronomical  prices for average and not very good models BUT never sell any.  All mine have been a lot cheaper than theirs but far better quality, I have watched their sales without changing for about 4 or 5 years now.  They will keep them off for a few months then re-advertise as if they were new (to them, not brand new) stock.  Sometimes a buyer will buy at whatever cost so when this happens the start price will go up too unfortunately.  The cheapest rough one I bought was about £8 as above.  Sometimes you are lucky and no one else bids like my 5 SR ones last year. 

 

Sorry,   my two GWR sleepers are staying put.

 

I do have repainted 0 gauge ones for sale as you have not mentioned what scale but I am guessing it is actually 00?

 

Garry

[Golden Fleece 30]

At long last I have managed to obtain a maroon (LMS) Sleeping car.  It is not in mint condition but very good. I will need to do a couple of little touch ups as can be seen but unsure if this needs a strip down for cleaning. The main reason being the window bars are on the glass and usually these will wash off with water, the windows as can be seen are a little dusty. Does anyone know if Exley made the longer 69', 6 wheel bogie version of this vehicle?  I am asking as I have a couple of 6 wheel bogies sets spare and thought about using one set on this coach even though it would be not prototypical it would be different.  I know the one posted by Tony has these bogies on but the coach looks like the same length as this one.

Edited August 21, 2015 by Golden Fleece 30